Recipe for Disaster
by queenofowls
Summary: When the Professor assigns Annette to cooking duty with one Felix Fraldarius, she doesn't expect much. He seems to hate just about anything involving teamwork, for one thing. Unless...?


Annette tries not to laugh at the sight of Felix pacing when she returns to the kitchen, aprons in hand. A smile twitches imperceptibly on her lips. In all honesty, she still thinks it's all too amazing that he's even there in the first place. When the professor assigned them weekly bonding exercises-namely, cooking duty-Annette had been initially filled with anticipation and dread, wondering who would have to put up with her bad cooking skills... but when Byleth announced that her partner was going to be Felix, her expectations had dropped to nothing. _Below_ nothing, she really imagine Felix in an apron alongside her, smiling cheerily as he prepared their class's meals for the week?

No. Not at all. (Why does he have to be smiling to prepare meals, Annette? She doesn't know, but the imagery seems better somehow. She never sees him smiling, after all, and she sorely wants to. It's concerning, at the very least.)

She expects nothing-until he had stalked towards her desk after class, that fateful day before their cooking duty was supposed to begin. She'd beamed up at him. "Felix? Can I help you?"

"We have cooking duty together next week so I'm coming over at seven to help with breakfast. Be prepared." He'd paused then, and she could've sworn that she almost saw a smile-or a smirk! Her memories are never too sure but from a such a villain, either seems likely-before he spoke again. "If you've got any songs about cooking duty, no need to keep them to yourself." _Ooh_, he really could be the worst when he wanted to...

...But how could she say no to such a request-even if it wasn't exactly said in such a way that it could be discerned as such? Especially if, right after uttering the words, he'd turned and strolled out of the classroom with the same glaring expression he always wears?

Annette clears her throat.

"I'm... back, Felix. Sorry for forgetting the aprons in the laundry room. You know how I'm such a scatterbrain-" He looks up at her jerkily, stepping towards her before quickly retreating. Sometimes... she catches him looking at her during class like this, too. Annette can't tell if he's repulsed or attracted to her but she decides not to dwell on it, instead offering a mild joke to defuse the situation, her smile bright. "I'm surprised that you didn't run away while I was gone." It's only partially said in jest, but she offers a half smile that dims slightly at his reply.

"Thought about it."

"Oh, um... right. Of course. A-anyway, let's get started, shall we?"

The conversation is uncomfortable and stiff; with the way that she'd imagined conversing with him so often, she feels vaguely embarrassed at the words-or the lack thereof-rolling off of her tongue.

She clears her throat and tries to relax but finds herself emotionally distancing herself from the situation completely. It's easier this way because she can ignore the fight or flight impulse rolling off of Felix in waves. It's a little disappointing in a way. She would hope that at the very least he would lie for her comfort, say that he wanted to stay... but Felix is frank and honest instead.

Or is that kind of honesty a good thing?

The purest sort of romance, if she thinks about it truly... But Annette chooses not to do because to do so feels like she's overthinking it and already she's kind of nervous and just-she forces herself to leave it alone, stepping further into the room to hold out an apron for him to take. When he takes it, she pulls her arms through the loops. Felix's voice behind her startles her.

"Turn around, I'll help you tie it."

She shakes her head. "Oh! No, it's okay! I can do it, don't worry! I'm not going to screw something as simple as this as, you don't have to worry!" She knots it tightly behind her back, then twirls around. "See?"

"I... see. I didn't think you were going to screw it up, but..." He trails off. "Never mind." Felix pulls his arms through the loops and, without thinking, Annette grasps the strings of his apron, her arms around his waist as she ties them neatly into a little bow. He stares down at her, but she barely notices, concentrated on proving her proficiency at tying the apron on correctly.

"There!" She steps away, rubbing her nose proudly. "I can even do it without looking. Now, let's get started!"

"...Right. You don't have a song to get us in the right frame of mind?"

Annette flusters for a moment. "B-be serious, Felix!"

"I am. I'm just saying, it might help me to relax."

She stares at him for a long moment, brows furrowed as she wonders if he's joking or not. His expression betrays nothing, so she chooses to change the subject instead, just in case. "Did you choose something to make?"

"I didn't." He glances at the untouched pile of recipe books and looks back at her. Annette can't help but notes that his eyes look less wild as he smoothes down his vest, fingers twitching with crackles of restrained energy. She remembers the way he'd been pacing when she'd entered the kitchen. "I waited for you."

Is he… nervous?

It makes her smile, a spark of optimism thinly piercing her chest.

Her voice is quieter than she means for it to be, and even she cringes at the hope tinged statement. "Why don't we choose together, then?" Instead of giving her the scathing look she lowkey expects, Felix nods in agreement. Still, he doesn't move until she leans against the table, tilting her head to read the titles of recipe books she'd left for him to choose from. For a moment, she leans too far, almost tumbling over, but Felix grabs her shoulder.

The moment she looks at him in surprised, he quickly lets go with a muttered, "careful."

Annette flushes.

"Oh! Sorry."

"Don't apologize."

"Sorry! Oh! I mean, um, sorry, I-" She can feel herself starting to sweat but he doesn't say anything, instead swiping a book off of the table and yanking it open to any page.

_Right, she should... um... also..._

She turns back to the stack and pulls one that's third from the bottom.

"This one looks interesting," she murmurs quietly. _Sreng Homestyle Cooking._ Felix doesn't respond but she pages through, looking for something that their classmates might enjoy-and that she'd be able to make easily. Pages through, and ignores the fact that she and Felix haven't moved an inch since he pulled her upright to keep from falling.

Every time he leans forward to inspect a recipe title, his shoulder brushes against hers.

"Oh, excuse me!" She still can't help apologizing first, but Felix mutters beneath his breath.

"It's fine." Every recipe book she flips over to read the blurb for is the action of her arms rubbing against the length of his; she is glad that both of their uniforms lend to wearing long sleeves, or else the feeling of goosebumps would be much too noticeable for her liking.

All in all, the moment is quiet, but much more comfortable than any verbal exchange thus far.

"Annette." She glances over and sees him standing with a recipe open, rubbing his nose lightly as he avoids his eyes. "What about this one?"

"One moment..." She just wants a second to finish reading through the ingredients list of this one. "I just want to see if we have everything for this recipe..." After all, they'll need more than one to feed an army... "Okay, done!"

Satisfied, she turns to look at him and finds that he has drawn close to read over her shoulder, his face much closer than she expects to see it. She finds herself at a loss and tells herself to look away before he gets angry-but Felix doesn't move or do much of anything-instead... he just looks at her coolly, the same flat, slight frown on his slender lipss.

His eyes flit across her face, a thousand places at once.

Annette can scarely believe herself, holding her breath. She just waits and watches-watches him take in her long eyelashes, curling around and framing her bright, blue eyes. Felix's eyes slip lower onto her face, moving back and forth as though he is memorizing his every detail. He stops as his eyes meet her lips, and she half-expects him to at least give her a glance, some sort of signal that would signify his intentions- but his eyes never rise, instead frozen on her lips.

Annette wonders if she is dreaming.

Felix leans forward hesitantly, Annette watching him carefully as she stops breathing altogether. _Is he going to...?_ He hovers over her mouth indecisively for so long that she can feel her lips moistening from his breath. She restrains the urge to lick her own lips out of fear that she'll mistakenly lick his in the process... an idea so mortifying that just imagining it makes her want to die... In the corner of her eye, she sees his hand lift and then fall, as if unable to choose whether or not to touch her face lightly, or brush her bangs aside, or to do... whatever it is that he wants to.

Annette's heart pounds in her chest. There's a part of her, bold and fearless, that can't help but feel the urge to lean forward and end the siege he has on her body-because she finds that it's not just her face... but her whole self is captured in this moment, in this opportunity to be kissed by someone who seemingly repulsed the majority of his classmates to a less focused eye.

To stop herself from acting, Annette shuts her eyes and anticipates the feeling of his mouth on her own, but... the contact never comes. Her voice is quiet when she does speak, her eyes still squeezed tight.

"Felix?" She pauses, waiting for a reply. "Are you going to kiss me?"

"No."

Ah... he's too honest again.

"Then can I open my eyes?"

"..." He doesn't reply anyway, making her wonder why she'd bothered asking in the first place.

She thinks of his golden eyes, those narrow eyebrows meeting, the corners of his lips tilted downwards with displeasure and wonders if he hates her after all. But as she considers the way his eyes flickered towards her mouth... she cannot really allow herself to think so.

Content with the lack of an answer, she waits for another moment before resigning herself to the fact that he won't do it. Annette speaks softly. "I'm going to open my eyes now, okay?"

She does slowly, one eye before the other. To her great disappointment, Felix has already put space between them. No, more interestingly, she catches him in a moment of self-reflective disgust and irritation.

For a moment, Annette's thoughts loop again into her wondering if he's repulsed by her, too, with a strangely detached disappointment. Maybe, she thinks, she's not the kind of person that would make others want to stay with her. Maybe it's best for Felix to keep his distance if, in the end, he is only going to with draw.

She clings to the disappointment, letting it wash over her. It's the only emotion she can allow herself to muster up without feeling regret for allowing this... anomaly to occur-not just this single moment, but the entire morning to happen.

She should've offered to cover cooking duty on her own, maybe asked Dedue to assist her. He's never seemed bother to assist her before-

Annette stares at him for a long moment, and he startles her as he suddenly turns towards her with a determined expression, grasping her cheeks lightly with both hands. He doesn't say anything, but she finds that she's unable to tell what he's thinking at all. Why is Felix doing this?

"What are you thinking?" She doesn't mean to but she murmurs her thought aloud, startling Felix.

"I... don't know." At the moment when she expects him to be dishonest, he opens up most surprisingly. "You're too quiet."

"Quiet?" Her eyes widen. Does he mean when she was looking through the books. "I... was concentrating."

"Yes, I know! I know. What I don't know is why I want to hear your voice so badly-but I do." Is _that..._ why his eyes moved down towards her lips? It's a little disappointing in comparison to what she was imagining but... Felix echoes himself. "I do."

At the reluctant admission, Annette can't help herself.

She smiles. "I see. Well, then. Once we pick a recipe, I suppose I can whip up a song for us?"

"Please. Anything is better than this silence." This close, his normally piercing brown eyes don't look as sharp as they usually do-they look like they're cracking at the edges and she can't help but wonder what's underneath.

Annette can't help but ask.

"Um... Felix? Is that... all you want to say so me?" He drops his gaze. "Felix?" He says nothing. Annette touches the loops of her hair self-consciously. Maybe she shouldn't push it.

She steps away to give him space, turning back towards the stack of recipe books.

As she remembers his warm breath on her face, his cool hands on her chin and cheeks, his lips so close to her own, Annette moistens her lips absentmindedly and tries not to think about the moment that could've been. She fumbles for the next book on pile and wishes that she hadn't moved over, if only to feel the weight of him sitting solidly beside her again.

The day's cooking goes surprisingly uneventfully by her standards-at least, she didn't singe any eyebrows, and by nightfall, she finds herself looking forward to the rest of the week, and dreading the day it will end.

In her dormitory room, Annette finds herself staring at the ceiling, wondering at the sensation of Felix's lips pressed against her own.

She lets out a quiet giggle.

Maybe in her dreams.


End file.
